ZULU

A crime novel set in post-apartheid South Africa, and the winner of the French Grand Prix for Best Crime Novel of 2008.

As head of the Crime Unit, Ali Neuman has one of the most dangerous jobs in Cape Town. The fact that he is a black man investigating blacks, mulattos and whites doesn’t make it any easier. When a white girl from a prominent family turns up dead, Neuman and his partners, Dan Fletcher and Brian Epkeen, are thrown into the most dangerous and important case of their lives. Their investigation leads them into the dark underbelly of Cape Town’s townships—and eventually to drug dealers, gangs and powerful white men who manipulate blacks on society’s lowest rung. The closer these three policemen get to the truth, the more their lives—and the lives of the ones they love—are in danger. As the bodies pile up, the novel masterfully depicts the abject poverty of Cape Town’s slums and the desperation of the townships’ residents, most of whom turn to drugs, gang activity, prostitution or some combination of the three. The novel, brutally honest, at times violent and grotesque, is both a scathing commentary on South African current affairs and a powerful tribute to those who put their lives on the line to make things right.